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Oulton Park accident set to end Daniel Lloyd’s campaign

Daniel Lloyd has revealed that his BTCC season is set to come to an end with the next event at Thruxton unless further support can be found to help deal with the impact of his huge accident at Oulton Park.

Lloyd’s EXCELR8-run Hyundai suffered extensive damage in the accident to leave with him with a repair bill of around £100,000, with the team having to work around the clock to ensure he could contest the following event at Croft two weeks later.

Although he produced a stunning performance on track to then win twice in North Yorkshire, Lloyd has so far only managed to find around half of the money required to not only cover the repair, but also to ensure he can complete the season.

It means that, unless funding can be found to cover the meetings at Silverstone and Brands Hatch GP, the second trip of the campaign to Thruxton is set to be his final appearance of 2022.

“It was fantastic to bounce back from what happened at Oulton Park with the double win at Croft, but I think it might have given the false impression that we were okay in terms of being able to complete the season,” he says. “Unfortunately that couldn’t be further from the truth and as it stands, there is a genuine possibility that Thruxton will be my final races of the campaign.

“Although we’ve been able to bring some fantastic new partners onboard since the accident, they were deals that I’d been working on for some time. I’m hugely grateful that they decided to back me – and that my existing partners have been so understanding of the situation – but the hard facts are that we are still around £50,000 short of being able to settle the repair bill and take part in the final two rounds.”

As well as continuing his quest to find new sponsors, Lloyd is also launching a number of packages that will provide fans to get involved – admitting that he would be gutted if his season was to come to an early end.

“The prospect of being unable to finish what we have started this season is heartbreaking, because I feel I’ve developed a fantastic relationship with the team and we have made huge progress with the car to regularly fight towards the front of the field in what has been one of the competitive grids that the BTCC has had for a number of years,” he said.

“I’m certainly not giving up by any means, but a situation that was very difficult has now become critical, and time is running out. People have asked if crowdfunding was an option and whilst I know it has been done by other people, it isn’t something I personally feel comfortable with as I wouldn’t want to ask fans for money and not be able to offer something in return.

“We are however pleased to be in a position where we can launch some new packages that will allow any fans who want to support my effort to do so, but will also offer them exclusive rewards that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to – such as special merchandise and a Hot Lap event at Donington Park.”